The Alexander Stadium track proved once again to be a happy hunting ground for South Africa’s sprinters as Jonathan Ntutu stormed to Commonwealth Games gold in the T11/12 100m for visually impaired athletes on Thursday night.
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Hot on the heels of two 100m silvers from SA sprinters on Wednesday, the 36-year-old from Cape Town defied the chilly conditions by reaching the finish in a speedy 10.83 seconds to successfully defend the title he won at the Gold Coast Games four years ago.
Unlike compatriot Charl du Toit an evening earlier, there were no hints of a possible retirement.
“My PB is 10.80. I just ran 10.83 so I’m going nowhere,” said the veteran who was nearly brought to tears when talking about missing out on even reaching the final in the same event in Tokyo last year.
“I could cry because between Tokyo and now it’s been a hard road and for me to be standing here with the gold medal it becomes so overwhelming for me,” he said.
“To come out here and run 10.83 in quite cold conditions, I’m proud of myself. Mid-race I had a bit of a speed wobble, but I overcame that and here I stand with gold.
“Hopefully everybody at home enjoyed that performance and they’re blowing up my phone right now,” he added.
Thatha, Ndodomzi!????
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2024) August 4, 2022
Savour this moment, champ, you have earned it.
A Commonwealth Games GOLD?? medallist and an overall great gentleman. ????????????#TeamSA #B2022 #B2022ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/U38PkqcZjB
Ntutu clearly relished performing in front of the vocal Birmingham crowd and took his time rounding the track for his victory lap with England’s silver medallist Zach Shaw, who had finished in 10.90. Namibia’s Ananias Shikongo got bronze in 10.95s.
“There are a lot of South Africans in the crowd, there are a lot of people who are here not only to cheer for England – they’re here to cheer for good athletics,” said Ntutu. “People know good sport when they see it so I’m just grateful these people are here to support us because Tokyo was quiet so I just came out here and enjoyed it.”
Meanwhile, over on the far side of the track national long jump champion Jovan van Vuuren secured his first medal at a major championships, claiming bronze with a second-round leap of 8.06m. Laquan Nairn of Bahamas took the gold with a distance of 8.08m.
“I didn’t think I was going to jump that big and then a minute later the Bahamas guy stole my limelight,” laughed Van Vuuren who had briefly taken the lead with his second-round jump.
“But it was a nice jump, I enjoyed it – just doing the basics but from there on it got a bit colder and the body wasn’t responding as well. But it’s a good indicator for what to improve on next season.”
The 26-year-old continued a fine tradition of long jump results at the Commonwealth Games, with South Africans having been on the podium at the last two editions.
“I’m very glad I could do it for long jumpers in South Africa,” he said.
Van Vuuren also said Ntutu’s gold had been a massive boost as he got to congratulate his teammate on his victory lap. He also said that having South Africa’s 2008 Olympic silver medallist Khotso Mokoena cheering him on had made all the difference.
“He gave me good advice and was also here to watch me jump… he told me to enjoy it and run like a maniac on that run-up.”
That proud moment when you bow for your medal??
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2024) August 4, 2022
Terrific work, Jovan van Vuuren??????????.#TeamSA | #CommonwealthGames | #B2022LongJump pic.twitter.com/3YVLSg0bCz
Earlier in the evening, Mandilene Hoffman and Yane van der Merwe just missed out of the medals in the women’s F42-44/61-64 discus final, finishing in fourth (29.93m) and fifth (28.82m) place respectively.
“I think it went well. I was very stressed from the moment I walked out on the field and I felt stressed until the last throw so I’m still learning how to relax more and not stress about everything I do and just live in the moment,” said Hoffman, who was nevertheless happy with her fourth place.
“I was just putting too much pressure on myself to medal instead of enjoying myself and throwing like I wanted to throw. But I came fourth and it was for me a great moment,” she added.
Meanwhile, Zeney van der Walt booked her place in Saturday’s final of the 400m hurdles after comfortably finishing second in her heat in 55.10 to qualify second fastest.
Elsewhere on Thursday, cyclist Gustav Basson finished 18th in the men’s individual time trial 5 minutes 43.34 behind Australian winner Rohan Dennis.
Over at Birmingham Arena, 18-year-old Kayla Rondi kicked off her rhythmic gymnastics campaign. She finished in eighth place in individual apparatus qualification and didn’t make it through to the final. She did, however progress to the all-round final after finishing seventh in qualification.
Ntutu’s gold meant South Africa remained in sixth place on the medal table after so far securing 22 medals – seven of them gold, seven silver and eight bronze.